Sparda

Sparda (スパーダ) was a mighty demon swordsman who is known as the "Legendary Dark Knight" (伝説の魔剣士). Two thousand years prior to modern times, he "woke up to justice" and defeated Mundus and his legions alone. When sealing the netherworld, sensing his power had grown too strong, he intentionally sealed himself and his own demonic power in as well.

Later, he escaped his prison under unrevealed circumstances and quietly reigned the human world, continuing to preserve harmony. Before his death, he resurfaced in the modern day and married Eva, who gave birth to his twin sons, Dante and Vergil.

Appearance
In his human form, Sparda was a tall, handsome man with blue eyes, a youthful face, and slicked-back white hair. He is shown to have worn a purple Victorian outfit with a white cravat, a large red jewel around his neck, and a monocle over his left eye. While riding into battle on horseback, he would wear armor reminiscent of his demon form.

In his true form, Sparda was a slightly-larger-than-human-sized, vaguely insectoid demon with clawed hands, a scaly hide, a pair of downward facing ram horns, chiropteran wings with beetle-like wings underneath, hooves for feet, and reptilian spines protruding from his back. Parts of his body appeared to be made of grey scales with accents of red and purple. He also had gold veins on his hands and arms, chest, shoulders and back, a red diamond eye shaped gem in the center of his forehead, and skull-shaped gold knees and elbow guards with small horns.

His most notable feature in his natural form were his slit-like eyes, which glowed red and did not have pupils. He is often shown wreathed in fire, although it is uncertain if he was simply impervious to it or if he summoned it.

Personality
Although not much is known about him on a personal level, it is said that he was both rebellious like Dante and level-headed like Vergil. Legends speak fondly of his courage, righteousness and his thankless missions to protect the human world at the expense of being labelled as a traitor by all of his kin. Sparda's wife, Eva, always described him as being a noble fighter with courage and a righteous heart.

Sparda understood honor and possessed great wisdom. Sparda had two apprentices, Baul and Modeus, though he only entrusted his true strength and power to the kind-hearted Modeus as opposed to his colder brother Baul. Not long before his rebellion, he swore an oath with his students to live true to their aspirations.

Gameplay
In Devil May Cry and Devil May Cry 3, Dante can obtain the "Legendary Dark Knight" costume by clearing Hard mode. Dante begins with it unlocked in Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition. In Devil May Cry, this seems to actually be Sparda himself, as Dante's Ebony & Ivory are replaced with Sparda's Luce & Ombra. The sword Yamato is added to his arsenal, but players can still use Alastor. Yamato is basically a clone of Alastor, but when Sparda Devil Triggers, Yamato turns into the sword Sparda. Dante's DT and shadow are that of Sparda's devil form, no matter the equipped Devil Arm, though his abilities still depend on that Devil Arm.

Early History
Prior to his rebellion, Sparda was the most powerful demon swordsman. During this time, he was the mentor of the twin brothers Baul and Modeus, and he entrusted his teachings to Modeus. At some point, he saw the tyranny and injustice of the Dark Emperor and rebelled, fighting to save humanity. Before his rebellion, he made a pact with his students to live true to their aspirations and to carry them out.

He alone defeated the hellish host, before moving on to the Emperor of Darkness himself. Sparda defeated Mundus, sealing him into a marble vault, and what was left of Mundus's armies retreated back into the demon world. In order to close the gateway, Sparda used his own blood, along with the blood of a human priestess, in conjunction with his sword and a mystical amulet. He poured his demonic energy into his beloved sword to close the door between realms, the Temen-ni-gru, though this also robbed him of the lion's share of his abilities. As an added measure, he also imprisoned within the tower its gatekeepers - Cerberus, Agni & Rudra, Nevan, Beowulf and Leviathan - and took the names of the Seven Sins in order to imprison them and set them as seals keeping the Temen-ni-gru underground.

Fortuna and the Protectorate
Later, he sealed another path to hell in Fortuna using the Yamato. Sparda's activities over the next two thousand years are shrouded in legend, though it is understood that for a time after defeating Mundus, he benevolently ruled over the humans before eventually vanishing. The demon Berial implies that he encountered Sparda when he came to the human world two millenniums prior.

At some point, Sparda once fought alongside the Protectorate and Matier, later crossing into the demon world and returned. During the time in Hell, Sparda fought against both Argosax and Bolverk.

Later Life and Death
Sparda later appeared in the twentieth century where he met and fell in love with a woman named Eva, who bore him twin sons. He would later disappear and eventually died at some point under unrevealed circumstances.

Powers and Abilities
The exact extent of Sparda's powers remains unknown; but it is shown that his powers surpassed even the godlike Prince of Darkness himself, evidenced when Sparda single-handedly defeated Mundus and his demonic armies,. His powers are often held in high regard by human and demon alike, even those who view him unfavorably. His tremendous prowess is due to the fact that he embraced humanity. Due to his power, many seek to utilize his weapons such as the Sword of Sparda to gain power equivalent to his own. The immensity of his power is shown where his very blood that courses through his spawn, bestow the latter with great physical prowess and magical abilities.

He was also implied to be a master swordsman, as he trained Baul and Modeus into powerful swordsmen and Modeus stated that Sparda was "the best swordsman in the Demon World", although Dante went so far as to mock his father's sword work when he faced Baul. He was also a very adept in sealing, having sealed away extremely powerful demons such as the likes of Mundus & Argosax. Among his skills includes crafting and creating various magical items such as the Perfect Amulets, Rebellion, and Yamato.

Weapons
Sparda is known to have used both Yamato and the Force Edge. The former he used as a key to lock the Demon World away from the Human World, and he sealed the power of the latter with the Perfect Amulet, turning it into the Force Edge. Also, in Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening, it is stated that Rebellion is a memento from Sparda to Dante, though its exact significance is unknown. He also used the Luce & Ombra, his own hand made pistols.

Marvel vs. Capcom 3
Sparda is available as a downloadable costume for Dante, and his own Devil Form replaces Dante's while in Devil Trigger. He also makes a second appearance in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 as the Devil Trigger form for Vergil's downloadable outfit, instead of Nelo Angelo as seen in the Special Edition of Devil May Cry 3.

Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale
Sparda appears as an unlockable icon in Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale. To unlock players must reach Rank 14 with Dante. Upon reaching rank 22 players are also granted a Sparda themed wallpaper.

Trivia

 * Sparda, when pronounced in Japanese (スパーダ Supāda?), sounds like "Spada" which means sword in Italian and Spanish.